For most men, your beard will start to kick in with puberty. However, not all men are the same when it comes to beards.
Some people are blessed with naturally thick beards that start growing from a young age, and by the time most men are 25, their beards should be well within their prime.
But can you grow a beard after 25? The short answer to this question is that it depends on various factors. However, for a lot of men, beards might keep on growing in terms of thickness and coarseness to the age of 30 to 35, and with the right practices, you can maximize its growth rate.
If you want to learn more about the reasons why your beard isn’t growing properly or you want to find out more about the tips to speed up growth, keep on reading this article!
What Is the Typical Age for Beard Growth?
Ideally, beards will start growing from the age of 16 to 18. However, the specific age where an individual grows his beard will vary according to a wide range of factors, specifically genetics.
Although beards can grow as early as 16 years old, some people might start developing beards by the age of 20 or 25.
The level of thickness, rate of growth, and hair pattern will vary from one individual to the other, even for two people who started growing their beards around the same time.
When Does a Beard Stop Growing?
The term that is used to describe the time when your beard stops developing is known as “terminal beard”.
Like beard growth, this one also depends on various similar aspects, but mainly genetics. However, it can vary from one man to the other.
Like hair growth, some beard care practices might help in delaying your terminal beard age within your genetic boundaries and prevent your beard from growing shorter.
What Are the Reasons Why Beards Don’t Grow After 25?
If you’re 25 or older and your beard isn’t growing properly or not growing at all, there might be a variety of reasons for that to happen.
In this section, I going to tackle these reasons and provide you with a brief overview of each one of them:
1. Genetics
The primary reason why your beard isn’t growing is your genetics. If your father and both grandparents had patchy beards or didn’t have beards at all by the age of 25, you’ll most likely not have one by that time too.
This is because our DNA inherits the codes that dictate the levels of androgens and the secondary masculine traits, which include growing body and facial hair, for the same reasons why we look like our family members.
2. Age
Although a lot of people believe that humans stop growing by the age of 21 to 25, this rule doesn’t necessarily apply to beards.
As previously mentioned, your beard continues to develop and grow well into your thirties and up to the age of 35. In fact, there are many men that have a light or patchy beard by 25 and end up with a majestic thick beard by the age of 28 or even 30.
In other words, it may just be that it’s not the time where your beard grows dramatically yet. This one is also somewhat dependent on genetics, so you can check when your elder family members’ beards started to kick off.
3. Ethnicity
Different races have a different pool of genetics that can affect the time and rate at which beards grow the same way people of the same race share similar features.
For example, it was believed that among people from all over the world, caucausians, especially those who are originally from Mediterranean countries, have the thickest beards.
Science even backs this up, with a 2016 study that compared men from various races and found that Chinese and Asian men are generally much less likely to grow facial hair and with up to 180 micrometers difference in thickness when compared to Caucasians.
4. Nutrition
Hair is made up of a natural protein known as keratin. Like other parts of our bodies, hair needs certain micro and macronutrients in order to grow properly.
If you don’t provide your body with the necessary elements for growth within the required daily dosage, it won’t be able to build healthy hair follicles
Ideally, you need to provide your body with amino acids necessary to make keratin, which are found in foods that are rich in proteins, such as meat, fish, eggs, chickens, tofu, legumes, etc.
You should also make sure that your body gets all its requirements of vitamins for the day, such as:
- Vitamin A
- Vitamin C
- Vitamin E
- Vitamin B
In addition to vitamins, you also need essential minerals necessary for hair growth that are found in meat, fruits, and vegetables, including:
- Iron
- Magnesium
- Zinc
- Selenium
If you want to find out more about proper nutrition for beard growth, click here to read more about the most essential ones.
5. Stress
There are plenty of studies that associate stress with hair fall. What a lot of people don’t know is that facial hair can also be affected by heavy stress. Not only that but stress can also reduce immunity, which can cause several diseases that include facial hair loss.
6. Health Conditions
This takes us to another reason why your beard doesn’t grow. In addition to infections that cause hair loss, some autoimmune diseases can also attack facial and body hair follicles.
This can cause the beard to look noticeably patch or not grow at all, such as alopecia areata. While it has no cure, your doctor may prescribe some medications that will help.
7. Hormonal Disturbance
Since secondary male features like deep voice and growing facial hair are directly associated with androgens and testosterone levels, any disturbance in the hormonal balance in the body can actually delay or even prevent your beard from growing
Tips to Speed Up Beard Growth
Beard growth is a confusing topic for some, as not everyone is blessed with the privilege of growing a full, thick beard naturally.
However, there are some tips and practices that can help you improve or speed up your beard growth. Make sure to try these out:
- Use hyaluronic acid for beard growth (it won’t work on its own, but with proper nutrition and genetics, it will increase your growth rate exponentially!)
- Apply beard oil on your patchy beard to make it thicker
- If all else fails, consider beard transplants
- Use bear rollers to stimulate your beard hairs to grow
- Seek a prescription of Minoxidil
Wrap Up
So There you have it! A brief guide that shows you all the reasons why you may not be able to grow a beard after 25.
As you can see, there are plenty of reasons why your beard doesn’t grow at all or grow very little. While there are some reasons that we can’t do anything about it, you can still improve the beard growth rate by following the tips that I’ve mentioned above.
If you want to find out more about growing a beard artificially, here’s an article that I wrote about beard transplants and whether they’re worth it.